Malta has officially been removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s infamous grey list, a year after it was placed there.

“The FATF welcomes Malta’s significant progress in improving its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime,” the FATF said in a statement. 

“Malta has strengthened the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime to meet the commitments in its action plan regarding the strategic deficiencies that the FATF identified in June 2021, related to the detection of inaccurate company ownership information and sanctions on gatekeepers who fail to obtain accurate beneficial ownership information, as well as the pursuit of tax-based money laundering cases utilising financial intelligence.”

“Malta is therefore no longer subject to the FATF’s increased monitoring process. Malta should continue to work with MONEYVAL to sustain its improvements in its AML/CFT system.”

The FATF’s decision will come as a shot in the arm for Malta as it continues to recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and face the inflation-related repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A survey carried out by the Malta Employers’ Association post-grey listing had found that 88% of businesses believed the FATF’s decision would leave a negative impact on the Maltese economy, with 64% anticipating strong repercussions.

Cover photo: FATF president Marcus Pleyer